The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
3martini's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Cursing, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
theaceofpages's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Look, it was okay. I absolutely loved the premise (I mean, who doesn't want to know what the animals get up to when people are wiped out in an apocalyptic scenario?) but the style really wasn't for me. I didn't enjoy the humour, and while I love birds I hated ST (yes, birds can be mean, snarky, etc and in entertaining ways, but I just didn't like him). I liked the octopus but unfortunately that was very limited...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Cursing
kwalker314's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Cursing
beccwoolsey's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
I really wanted to like this book.
When this book was recommended to me, the premise immediately had me hooked. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi featuring a crow named Shit Turd and his loyal dumb dog? Are you kidding? Sign me up. But, I feel like the idea was better than the execution.Â
Hollow Kingdom brings a unique perspective and much-needed twist to the zombie genre, but it holds itself back with unnecessarily excessive descriptive prose, characters that are hard to connect to, and critical plot points that just don't make sense.
I'm typically all for flowery prose-- it's my favorite. Most of my 5 star reads are written with some degree of flowery prose, but it usually fits the genre and is enough that it contributes some emotion to the story, but short enough that it doesn't pull away from the narrative. Hollow Kingdom took purple prose to the next level, and it felt additionally out of place because of it's genre. I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of the book regularly because it was just a wall of description with no substance to the plot, using the biggest words it could possibly find to describe a simple object. I nearly DNF'd 30% into the book because I found it such a slog to get through. Thankfully, the plot picked up enough that I was able to tolerate it, but this was an issue throughout the whole book.
The main character, S.T., was hard to connect to or care about. In his defense, I can't really relate to a crow in a zombie apocalypse, but I should be able to relate to his feelings of grief, loss of identity, and desire for a purpose. But, those feelings were often surface level or moved past quickly, and so I felt it difficult to care. We don't really get to know the other characters well enough to attach to them, either. There was minor character development, but it didn't make a huge impact. Honestly, I felt myself looking forward to the few short chapters we got from other characters because I found them far more interesting and compelling than S.T.'s perspective.
Finally, there were some plot points that regularly had me going "... Huh?". I feel like I'm usually pretty willing to make crazy leaps in logic for sci-fi and fantasy-- it's fiction, it doesn't have to be realistic. But it does have to make sense within the narrative. Most of the confusion came from the virus itself: where it came from, how it worked, and why it was there.
It's supposed to be a biological virus, like most zombie novels, and in this case sent as a punishment from Mother Nature, but it comes from... Phone screens? I get it, it's a social commentary on technology addiction. But having a naturally created virus that's caused and triggered by technology feels... Disjointed. The book also emphasizes that the virus was a consequence of humanity "missing their chance to evolve" and be better, Nature's way of restoring balance by forcing humans into extinction. But, by the time we get to the end, some of the infected have evolved into not one, but two different "species" of humans as a way to survive the virus? One evolving into a type of man bird, and the other into a man spider? In what I assume is, at the very least, less than 5 years time (since time is not clear)? If the point is that humans missed the opportunity to evolve, that Nature isn't fair, and that evolution takes GENERATIONS, how did they evolve into two new advanced species in such a short period of time? The book tries to explain that this advanced evolution is a last ditch effort at survival and is caused by cancer. Again... What?
I understand the characters are all animals and can't possibly really know what's going on at a molecular level and explain it reasonably to the audience. If the author had just left it at "We're animals, we don't know", I would have been okay with that. But, they went out of their way to deliver that information through a talking parrot and it just... It didn't make sense, and it still doesn't, to me at least.
My final issue with the plot is this: Dennis' death was pointless and didn't make sense. I'm not upset that it happened; I knew that it would at some point, it was inevitable. I'm upset at the way it happened. He could've died saving the murder during that lake scene, and it would've been a hero's death. But instead, he smelled a UPS truck from inside the compound where they'd been living for weeks, saw that it was swarming with zombies, and just... Went feral on the truck and got eaten to death? Are you joking? I literally put my Kindle down and said "This is the dumbest thing I've ever read." I get that they were trying to make a commentary on a dog's instincts to attack the mailman, but 1) the truck wasn't running, 2) it had been sitting there for weeks (I presume) in an area they regularly patrol, and 3) was swarming with zombies. But you're telling me he hadn't seen it before, and his "natural" instinct to attack the package truck overrode his instinct to avoid predators?? Absolutely pointless death. Meant nothing and didn't make the commentary the author was hoping it would. Cinnamon's death had more meaning than that.
The book wasn't all bad. It was genuinely funny at times (I particularly enjoyed the running joke about squirrels). The communication systems of Aura, Echo, and Web were creative and thought out. My favorite parts of the book were the short chapters we got from some of the other animals-- specifically Genghis Cat and Angus the Highland Cow. Those chapters were witty, had amazing voice, and gave that really unique perspective I was looking for. I loved them.
Overall, though, it was okay. Unique and funny. I understood the points it was trying to make, I just don't think it was well-executed in getting there. I have the second book, Feral Creatures, but I honestly don't know if I'll read it. I might, just to say I did and to see if it clears any of the issues up from the first book, but seeing as it's longer than the first and I barely made it through... Probably not.Â
When this book was recommended to me, the premise immediately had me hooked. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi featuring a crow named Shit Turd and his loyal dumb dog? Are you kidding? Sign me up. But, I feel like the idea was better than the execution.Â
Hollow Kingdom brings a unique perspective and much-needed twist to the zombie genre, but it holds itself back with unnecessarily excessive descriptive prose, characters that are hard to connect to, and critical plot points that just don't make sense.
I'm typically all for flowery prose-- it's my favorite. Most of my 5 star reads are written with some degree of flowery prose, but it usually fits the genre and is enough that it contributes some emotion to the story, but short enough that it doesn't pull away from the narrative. Hollow Kingdom took purple prose to the next level, and it felt additionally out of place because of it's genre. I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of the book regularly because it was just a wall of description with no substance to the plot, using the biggest words it could possibly find to describe a simple object. I nearly DNF'd 30% into the book because I found it such a slog to get through. Thankfully, the plot picked up enough that I was able to tolerate it, but this was an issue throughout the whole book.
The main character, S.T., was hard to connect to or care about. In his defense, I can't really relate to a crow in a zombie apocalypse, but I should be able to relate to his feelings of grief, loss of identity, and desire for a purpose. But, those feelings were often surface level or moved past quickly, and so I felt it difficult to care. We don't really get to know the other characters well enough to attach to them, either. There was minor character development, but it didn't make a huge impact. Honestly, I felt myself looking forward to the few short chapters we got from other characters because I found them far more interesting and compelling than S.T.'s perspective.
Finally, there were some plot points that regularly had me going "... Huh?". I feel like I'm usually pretty willing to make crazy leaps in logic for sci-fi and fantasy-- it's fiction, it doesn't have to be realistic. But it does have to make sense within the narrative. Most of the confusion came from the virus itself: where it came from, how it worked, and why it was there.
I understand the characters are all animals and can't possibly really know what's going on at a molecular level and explain it reasonably to the audience. If the author had just left it at "We're animals, we don't know", I would have been okay with that. But, they went out of their way to deliver that information through a talking parrot and it just... It didn't make sense, and it still doesn't, to me at least.
My final issue with the plot is this:
The book wasn't all bad. It was genuinely funny at times (I particularly enjoyed the running joke about squirrels). The communication systems of Aura, Echo, and Web were creative and thought out. My favorite parts of the book were the short chapters we got from some of the other animals-- specifically Genghis Cat and Angus the Highland Cow. Those chapters were witty, had amazing voice, and gave that really unique perspective I was looking for. I loved them.
Overall, though, it was okay. Unique and funny. I understood the points it was trying to make, I just don't think it was well-executed in getting there. I have the second book, Feral Creatures, but I honestly don't know if I'll read it. I might, just to say I did and to see if it clears any of the issues up from the first book, but seeing as it's longer than the first and I barely made it through... Probably not.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Drug use and Suicide
leguinstan's review against another edition
I was really delighted by S. T.'s crass sense of humor when I first started reading the book and it was a joy to read from the perspective of character with such a distinctive voice and with such a strong personality. I found myself laughing so much during the first ~100 pages of the book.Â
Unfortunately, I felt that the humor got old really quickly. At a certain point I found myself getting more excited about the sporadic chapters from the perspective of other animals since they provided a break from S. T.'s incessantly vulgar roasting of other characters. The personality of the animals are just as colorful as S. T.'s personality and they were funny in their own unique ways.
Like I previously said, S. T. made me laugh at the start but I just don't think he's 300+ pages worth of funny and the plot was not nearly gripping enough to make the comedic loss worth it. More specifically, S. T.'s main objective kept changing so much that the overall plot feels unfocused. It's hard to get invested when you have to keep reminding yourself what the characters are currently trying to achieve.
The final nail in the coffin was the moment when one of the characters warns S. T. & co that a war is brewing between different animal factions . Some may feel differently about this but I tend to get stupendously bored with lengthy descriptions of battle prep and large-scale warfare . The little bit of investment I had left vanished in an instant and I simply could not bring myself to read another page.Â
It's such a shame it didn't work out because I think the author is very imaginative and talented (especially when it comes to narrative voice!). Perhaps it would've done better as a novella instead of a full-length novel?
Unfortunately, I felt that the humor got old really quickly. At a certain point I found myself getting more excited about the sporadic chapters from the perspective of other animals since they provided a break from S. T.'s incessantly vulgar roasting of other characters. The personality of the animals are just as colorful as S. T.'s personality and they were funny in their own unique ways.
Like I previously said, S. T. made me laugh at the start but I just don't think he's 300+ pages worth of funny and the plot was not nearly gripping enough to make the comedic loss worth it. More specifically, S. T.'s main objective kept changing so much that the overall plot feels unfocused. It's hard to get invested when you have to keep reminding yourself what the characters are currently trying to achieve.
The final nail in the coffin was the moment when one of the characters warns S. T. & co that
It's such a shame it didn't work out because I think the author is very imaginative and talented (especially when it comes to narrative voice!). Perhaps it would've done better as a novella instead of a full-length novel?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Cursing
Moderate: Violence, Gore, and Excrement
Minor: Rape
rape: so there's a scene in the book where a pack of male dogshexie88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Death, Cursing, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual content
mossgoblins's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Cursing, and Death
olivias_chapters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Body horror, and Animal death
aardwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
When you go high concept, you have to nail it. There are moments that veer too saccharine or too gruesome where the balance fails, but overall, the Hollow Kingdom sticks that landing. ST's voice wobbles from time to time, but he draws you in anyway. The post-apocalyptic adventure log is a forgiving genre. Come for the touching moments, stay for the nightmarish body horror. The book falls into a few amateurish pitfalls, namely that main characters have deaths and sacrifices mourned and treasured while nameless side characters fall by the wayside immediately forgotten, and the clumsy attempts to shoehorn science into what is clearly a supernatural change, but ST and friends carry you past.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Vomit, and Violence
hannahthelibrary's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Animal death